The Qemal Stafa Foundation actively participated in the Regional Conference on “Foreign Influences Against Democratic Processes in the Western Balkan Countries” organized on November 24-25, 2022 in Skopje, North Macedonia by the Progres Institute for Social Democracy (PROGRESS), with the financial support of the Kalevi Sorsa Foundation.
The first panel set up within the framework of this conference was entitled ”Domestic Affairs – Foreign Influence! Who and how is filling the gap in the Western Balkans?”. The purpose of this panel was to provide an overview of the historical developments that led to the situation where the Western Balkans region is under the influence of many foreign factors and structures. During this panel, there was a discussion on foreign influence as part of the psychological profile in the Western Balkans and how the different power structures in the region collide.
The second panel discussion focused on foreign influence and CSOs in the region. In this panel, representatives from partner organizations from the Western Balkans provided an overview of the positive and negative influence that foreign countries, organizations and structures have on the work of their respective CSOs. Furthermore, the discussion provided an overview of the influence that these actors have on the entire civil society in their respective countries and its effects on the national and regional political discourse.
The third panel was entitled ”Recognizing Positive Foreign Influence – The EU as a Partner of Our Democracies”. The aim of this panel was to define the term “positive foreign influence” and in particular to distinguish between those influences that are beneficial and those that are destructive to the democratic development of the Western Balkans and its countries’ aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration. The discussion was essential on how the Western Balkan countries can best use positive influence to counter the democratic challenges imposed by actors exercising negative influence and how progressive actors can communicate with the public in the most effective way on this topic.
The theme of the last panel was ”Protecting Democracy! Joint Action, Joint Responsibility”. The aim of this panel was to open a discussion on specific steps that different stakeholders (media, party, civil society, academia) can take to better differentiate the influence of different actors in the region. It was discussed how to minimize the influences that oppose the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Western Balkans region and that seek to undermine democracy, as well as what steps can be taken to promote and strengthen cooperation with those who contribute to the democratic future of the region, raising the question of what is being done at the moment.
